How to Find Time to Write a Book: 10 Practical Tips for Busy Aspiring Authors
If you've ever said, "I'd love to write a book one day," you're not alone; it’s where most of us start. We aren’t recruited into a book writing job -writing your book is normally very organic and either a life-long dream or a nagging thought that comes to mind when you brain has space to think.
At Novus Publishing House, I speak to aspiring authors every week. Some have had a book in their heart for years. Others have folders full of notes, half-finished chapters, voice notes, and ideas scribbled on scraps of paper; one amazing lady had a whole bedroom wall covered in post-it notes with just a single word on each coloured square!
What most aspiring authors often have in common is this:
They haven't started, or they've started and stopped or the biggie - they're waiting for more time.
The truth is, writing a book rarely happens when life becomes magically quiet. Most writers are juggling jobs, families, responsibilities, and the everyday demands of being human.
If you're waiting for a perfect stretch of uninterrupted time, you may be waiting forever.
The good news?
Books aren't written in perfect conditions. They're written in moments, small moments, messy moments, stolen moments.
Most importantly, they're written by people who decide that progress matters more than perfection.
If you've been struggling to get your ideas from your brain onto the page, here are ten tips that were my go-to and might just help you get off the starting blocks.
1. Stop Thinking Like an Author and Start Thinking Like a Collector
Many writers believe they need to sit down and write beautifully from the beginning.
You don't. Your first job is simply to collect ideas. Capture thoughts while walking the dog. Record voice notes while driving. Jot down observations while waiting for an appointment.
Your book already exists in fragments. Your job is to gather them.
Writing becomes much easier when you're collecting first and organising later.
Keep a pen and notebook in your bag, car, work-desk, bedside cabinet any anywhere else that you spend time, so that when those thoughts strike, you can brain dump immediately.
2. Give Yourself Permission to Write Badly
This might be the most important tip in this entire article.
Your first draft is not supposed to be good, it is supposed to exist.
Some days your writing will flow beautifully and other days it will feel clunky, repetitive and uninspired. Write it anyway.
You cannot improve a blank page but you can improve a rough draft.
3. Lower the Bar Ridiculously
Many people set goals such as:
"I'll write for two hours every evening."
Which sounds impressive but from experience I know it also tends to fail.
Instead, try this: write for ten minutes or one paragraph or one page or just one idea. Just dump it down.
Small goals create momentum. Momentum creates books.
4. Schedule Writing Like You Schedule Everything Else
Most of us don't wait until we "feel like" attending a meeting or paying a bill, yet many writers wait for inspiration before writing.
Treat your writing time with the same respect you give other commitments.
Put it in your diary. Protect it. Show up whether inspiration arrives or not.
Inspiration often turns up once you've already started.
5. Stop Editing While You're Writing
This habit quietly destroys progress for all of us so please DON’T start this.
You write a sentence, then edit it and then you rewrite it, then you question it and then you delete it. An hour later you've written just fifty words.
Drafting and editing are different activities.
When you're writing, write.
When you're editing, edit.
Trying to do both at the same time is like driving with one foot on the accelerator and one on the brake.
6. Write the Easy Bits First
Many aspiring authors get stuck because they're trying to write Chapter One perfectly.
Who says you have to start there?
Write the chapter you're excited about; write the story you can't stop thinking about.
Write the section that's already clear in your mind, you can join the dots later.
Books are built, not discovered fully formed. There is no perfect way, so just use the flow of your thoughts and imagination to guide you.
7. Use Voice Notes When Time Is Tight
Not everyone thinks best through typing; some people think best through talking.
If you're commuting, walking, cooking, or exercising, record your thoughts on your phone or any recording tool that works for you.
Many successful authors dictate large portions of their books before editing them later.
Your first draft doesn't care whether it arrives through your fingers or your voice.
I love this approach; I have written endless pages and built character profiles whilst walking in the woods and being inspired by fresh air and nature. When a though hits, I grab my phone, hit record and just walk and talk. Some of it I dump but most of it I use. I think it’s amazing what the brain comes up with when it is not under any pressure to do the task. Try it….I am sure you’ll be excited at just how much you can achieve.
8. Remember That Consistency Beats Intensity
Writing for fifteen minutes every day is often more effective than trying to write for six hours once a month. Small, regular progress keeps your ideas alive and it keeps your book connected to your daily thinking.
Most books are written one page at a time, not in grand bursts of inspiration.
9. Stop Comparing Your Draft to Someone Else's Finished Book
Comparison is one of the fastest ways to lose confidence.
Remember: when you pick up a published book, you're seeing the final version, not the first draft, not the messy middle and not the chapters that were rewritten five times.
Every author starts with imperfect words.
The difference is that they keep going.
10. Focus on Finished, Not Flawless
At Novus, I've seen countless talented people delay their writing because they want it to be perfect. Perfect rarely arrives but finished does. And once something is finished, it can be improved.
It can be edited. It can be refined. It can become something wonderful.
But none of that can happen if it never leaves your head.
A Final Thought
If you're carrying a book idea, a story, a memoir, a guide, or a message you want to share with the world, please don't let perfection become the reason it never gets written.
The world doesn't need another unwritten book; it needs your voice.
Write the messy chapter. Capture the rough idea. Start before you feel ready.
Because every published book began exactly the same way: as imperfect words on a page.
And that's more than enough.
Thinking About Writing a Book?
At Novus Publishing House, we believe everyone has a story, experience, or message worth sharing. Whether you're writing your first book or finally returning to a project you've been putting off for years, remember this:
Done is always better than never started.
The page is waiting. Enjoy your journey!
With love…
Mandy